Tag Archives: Berrett-Koehler

At the book signing with Librarian Catherine Noble, an attendee at the Quiet Influence presentation.

It was a privilege to speak last week at the American Library Association conference in Las Vegas, NV. The focus of my talk was on how librarians can address the leadership challenges they face today not by morphing into Extroverts but by drawing from an array of “introvert friendly” tools and approaches.

Prior to the speech I interviewed several leaders who were attending the program. I learned about how maintaining relevancy, shifting to linked data and generational shifts in the workplace are some of the hurdles faced by librarians today.

Libraries and librarians have had a special place in my heart. My Dad, Alvin Boretz was a screenwriter who grew up in the Depression and books where his lifeblood. The library was his second home and it became mine. Dad led the renovation and transformation of our local library. In an act of seeming reciprocity, the library system returned a gift to him. In later years, his collection of scripts, notes, letters and research were catalogued at the Film and Theater Archives at the University of Wisconsin . I wrote a blog post about the wonderful librarian who took on the project as well as our visit to that special place.

I will always remember the warm reception and appreciation for introverts shown by the crowd. At the book signing after my talk participants received copies of Quiet Influence: The Introvert’s Guide To Making A Differenceand Steve Piersanti, CEO of Berrett-Koehler spoke with a few of the people waiting on line. One young woman, Jessica Johnson, a masters candidate in Library and Information Science at Emporia State University, shared the sentiment many people expressed. She said, ” ……I felt that you were talking to me. I can be myself and don’t have to try to be someone else.”

On Page p. 142 of Quiet Influence I feature a sidebar from my colleague, branding consultant
Mike Wittenstein who shares several great suggestions about how you can use social media as one way to become a thought leader. For instance, he suggests that you write regularly about what you know and link your writing to what’s going on in the world. Regarding Twitter, he advises:

“Develop some good Twitter buddies and provide them with draft tweets about your content from their point of view. It will be really easy for them to help you spread your message. And don’t forget to tweet about their work too.” Continue reading →

Filled with pride, I tried asking the flight attendant if I could get a free flight (or even a free drink?) but she smiled and said, “That’s nice, but sorry.” Not even any perks for writing most of the book on your airplanes?:) I think I will try working on my Quiet Influence Quotient to get some sway on my hometown airline.

Berrett-Koehler stays with its authors. Spent time today with David Marshall of BK who directs digital media efforts (and very successfully, I might add). BK continues to be innovative and there for me through all the twists and turns of birthing this book and raising “her.” This interview with Johanna Vondeling pulls the curtain back on their operation.
And btw, most of BK’s folks are introverted – one more example of introverted leaders rising to the challenge.

Testimonials

I wanted to tell you THANK YOU for presenting to my IT Leadership team. In our next meeting my team was still discussing your book. We ended up using the first 30 minutes discussing the book and where do you think certain people fell – introvert or extravert. Thanks again!